Defending champions lower division all-time mark, eclipse 1974 meet record with 7:22.17 effort that ranks among top 25 overall programs in NCAA history; Mullins becomes first Drake female athlete to win any title since 1995 with 3,000 steeplechase victory, Kurgat, Ma and Nowak also triumph

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Photos by Ava Kitzi

DES MOINES, Iowa – Loras College is no stranger to its pursuit of NCAA Division 3 relay records, ranking in the top two all-time in the division in both the men’s indoor and outdoor 4x800, as well as the indoor and outdoor distance medley relay.

But just because the Duhawks already set the Division 3 outdoor 4x800 relay record last year at Jim Duncan Track, it didn’t mean Loras lacked any motivation Thursday returning to Drake Stadium for the 113th Drake Relays.

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Wyatt Kelly, Ryan Harvey, Carter Oberfoell and Mike Jasa not only lowered their division all-time mark by more than six seconds with a 7:22.17 performance, but the Loras quartet also achieved the meet record in the collegiate division.

Prairie View A&M ran 7:23.7 in a 2-mile relay in 1974, before the meet switched to its current 4x800 format in 1978.

The Duhawks also elevated to the No. 24 program in collegiate history, with only NCAA Division 1 lineups ahead of Loras on the all-time rankings.

Loras also became the first men’s program to repeat in the 4x800 at the Drake Relays since Oklahoma Baptist won three in a row from 2013-15, with Wisconsin-Parkside ascending to No. 15 in Division 3 history by placing second in 7:37.24.

Following their 9:39.80 DMR performance Feb. 10 at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University to set the Division 3 indoor record, the Duhawks are pursuing the all-time outdoor division mark of 9:53.78 set in 2000 by North Central in Illinois in Saturday’s final.

Loras took second last year at the Drake Relays in 9:54.45, trailing only Augustana of South Dakota, which produced the Division 2 outdoor DMR record of 9:53.62.

Brooke Mullins, representing Australia, became the first female athlete from Drake to win any event at the meet since Gina DeWitt secured victory 1995 in the 800 meters, producing a lifetime-best 10:13.94 to triumph in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Illinois State’s Mattison Plummer placed second in 10:19.74, with early leader Amanda Montplaisir of Minnesota State taking third in 10:19.85.

Chinese athlete XiuZhen Ma surged in the final 300 meters to prevail in the women’s 5,000 in 15:43.92, with Winona State’s Lindsay Cunningham producing the fastest collegiate performance for the second year in a row by clocking 15:45.91.

Cunningham, who elevated to the No. 8 all-time outdoor competitor in NCAA Division 2, won last year in 16:05.36.

Kathryn Munks of Hansons-Brooks Original Distance Project took third Thursday in 16:02.90, with Fiona Smith of Saint Benedict finishing fourth in 16:05.43.

Smith, who placed fifth last season at Drake Relays in 16:16.54, ascended to No. 4 in Division 3 history.

Following Central Missouri’s runner-up performance last year in 8:58.20, only to be edged by Augustana of South Dakota in 8:57.75 in a race that produced the second- and third-fastest all-time Division 2 marks, the Jennies had Katie Bean, Emily Sporleder, Kayla Goodwin and Jana Shawver run 9:01.46 to secure their first 4x800 title at the Drake Relays since 2016.

Central Missouri now boasts two of the top six 4x800 efforts in Division 2 history.

Edwin Kurgat, a former Iowa State standout and current Cyclones’ assistant coach, was victorious in the men’s 5,000 in 13:34.11.

South Dakota State’s Joseph Minor-Williams was the top collegiate athlete in the field, clocking 13:51.50 to finish second, with Air Force’s Scott Maison taking third in 13:54.13.

Craig Nowak, an Oklahoma State graduate competing unattached, prevailed in the men’s 3,000 steeplechase in 8:35.27. Nowak also competed Tuesday in the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships, with Thursday being his third race in five days, in addition to a pacing effort prior to arriving in Des Moines.

Tulsa’s Christian Baker achieved a personal-best 8:38.66 to secure second, edging reigning Division 2 champion Reece Smith of Northwest Missouri State in 8:38.68.

Theresa Hagey captured the first women’s 10,000 title for Ohio in meet history, clocking 34:53.10 in her debut in the event.

Hagey joined Ohio coach Sarah Pease, who triumphed in 2009 representing Indiana in the women’s 3,000 steeplechase, as a Drake Relays champion.

Northern State graduate student-athlete Jackson Harrison ran a lifetime-best 29:51.59 to emerge victorious in the men’s 10,000, prevailing against 2021 winner and former Minnesota State-Moorhead athlete Nadir Yusuf in 29:54.49.